Drawn Away 3: After Sunset

July 6, 2019
by Michael Scandling
comments 20
Abstract / Photography / Seascapes / Sunset

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Intentional Camera Movement

(Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com

The Author

California based fine-art photographer featuring abstract, impressionist, and minimalist seascapes — near and distant — and floral-based images. Fine-art photography can be seen at www.amagaphoto.com All original images on this blog are copyright 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 Michael Scandling. All rights reserved. No images on this site may be copied, duplicated, reused, published, or re-purposed in any way without express permission from the copyright owner, Michael Scandling.

20 Comments

      • Steve Gingold says

        It’s always good to let passing time be of influence as we can get too personal with an image. Probably always a personal thing but a little easier to remove ourselves and let the image speak for itself which is kind of the opposite of what we hear an image should be. A little of both works well.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Steve Schwartzman says

    We hear talk of banding as a defect in a digital photograph. Here the many bands of color work well. The bands in the top half are concave up, those in the lower half concave down.

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  6. bluebrightly says

    So beautiful Michael, and you know the “Related” feature underneath that WordPress does? These four together are SUCH a pleasure. (In case you don’t see it the same way I do, I’m seeing this post along with “Unfinished Turner” , “Drawn Away 1” and “Drawn Away 2.” In this one, I especially like what the smudge of greenish color does towards the bottom to balance everything. I know you work hard on these – it’s certainly worth it! 🙂

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    • Michael Scandling says

      Thanks very much! The smudge is a feature of just this one frame. No one will ever see the forty or so that didn’t make the cut. I am aware of the “Related” feature and I tag posts to take advantage of it.

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  7. shoreacres says

    That green smudge is a reflection: at least of sorts, and a lovely, convex mate to the concave bands above. After days of waiting for the association to surface, it finally came. Poet John Ashbery’s mostly opaque poem, “Portrait in a Convex Mirror” takes inspiration from the Italian artist Parmigianino’s painting titled Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror.

    The whole poem’s here, although I’ve never made it through the whole thing, and never would recommend it to anyone . If you want to give it a try, that’s up to you; I’ve always had trouble with Ashbery, and this one gives me a headache. But some lines from the first section really seem to match well with your photo:

    Francesco one day set himself
    To take his own portrait, looking at himself for that purpose
    In a convex mirror, such as is used by barbers . . .
    He accordingly caused a ball of wood to be made
    By a turner, and having divided it in half and
    Brought it to the size of the mirror, he set himself
    With great art to copy all that he saw in the glass,
    Chiefly his reflection, of which the portrait
    Is the reflection, of which the portrait
    Is the reflection once removed.
    The glass chose to reflect only what he saw
    Which was enough for his purpose: his image
    Glazed, embalmed, projected at a 180-degree angle.
    The time of day or the density of the light
    Adhering to the face keeps it
    Lively and intact in a recurring wave
    Of arrival. “

    That’s what I saw in the photo, and finally remembered: “lively and intact, in a recurring wave of arrival.”

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    • Michael Scandling says

      Thank you, Linda, I am very pleased that the photo made such an impression on you. It is my aim to create a lasting impression that viewers want to come back to repeatedly. Thank you very much for the attention spent on discovering this association. I do see the connection in the poem excerpt.

      Mechanically, the concave/convex effect is a matter of physics/perspective in a wide pan in intentional camera movement. It would be very easy to correct in post processing, but I would be inclined not to do it for a single reason: many of my horizon photographs play on an apparent paradox between depth and flatness. If you look at them carefully, you will see in many of them an interplay between extreme sharpness and a definite lack of sharpness. This is intentional and is carefully crafted to draw the viewer in. Intentionally not correcting the curves in these ICM horizons is another way of doing that.

      The green smudge is, in fact, a pool of light in the water where a spotlight was aiming into it. This was the only ICM pan out of about a dozen attempts where I managed to get it centered in the frame and get the effect that you see here. I wanted it for the exact reason that you stated: It was a reflection of and balance to the spaces and tones in the top half of the picture. A yin for the yang.

      Based on your feedback, and the feedback of others, I believe this photo will end up on my fine art website.

      Thank you very much for your interest and involvement.

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